MARGUERITE AND ARMAND (Royal Ballet/Royal Opera House)****

 

By Megan

Link: https://stream.roh.org.uk/packages/marguerite-and-armand-2017/videos/marguerite-and-armand-2017 £3

Available until: Sunday 14^th February 2021

Marguerite and Armand tells the same story as the opera La traviata by Giuseppe Verdi. The ballet and the operas are both based on Alexander Dumas’ play La Dame aux camélias which means The Lady with the Camelias. Marguerite and Armand are the names given to the characters in the play and the names have been kept for the ballet.

It is very easy to follow the story if you are familiar with the opera. I love ballets a lot but I have not always found it easy to work out the story if I don’t already know it. La fille mal gardée is an exception because that is very clear. Matthew Bourne’s ballets are kind of an exception too. I had seen the ballets before but he changes the plots and changes some of the characters so there are new things to notice and it is usually very clear what has changed and who people are.

But knowing the story makes me enjoy ballets even more and I already know this story so I loved the ballet. The only big difference from the opera that I noticed is that in the opera, Alfredo’s father (Alfredo is the same person as Armand) does not believe Violetta (Marguerite) is seriously ill when he first meets her. In the ballet Armand’s father sees this in the first meeting. That surprised me but it didn’t make the story better or worse, it was just different.

The ballet is only forty minutes long but it includes all the important bits of the story. I think it could have been made into a longer ballet but it had to fit the music that was available. The music is by Franz Liszt and is made up from La lugubre gondola and the Piano Sonata in B minor. The music is very lovely and it suits Frederick Ashton’s beautiful choreography very well but it doesn’t have the same drama as Verdi’s music.

The gentle quality of the music is shown perfectly in the choreography. I love the way Armand is so gentle with Marguerite. It’s very protective but at the same time it is very respectful. Armand’s father (who is not given a name in the ballet) has choreography which is less flowing which might be partly because he has a slight disability (he uses a stick as a mobility aid) but I think it also shows how uncomfortable he is with Marguerite and Armand’s relationship.

The role of Marguerite is danced by Zenaida Yanowsky. Her dancing is really beautiful and her acting is brilliant. There is a lovely moment where she first meets Armand and the camera shows a close-up of her face and she looks a bit unimpressed but then the camera cuts away to a shot of the full stage and Marguerite’s body language gives her away, she is leaning towards Armand. It is beautiful to watch her relax as Armand slowly gains her trust and she loses her party persona to show who she is underneath. Ms Yanowsky makes Marguerite very sweet and loving.

To begin with, Armand is a bit of a show off and it seems like Roberto Bolle really enjoys those moments. But like Marguerite he is acting a part and you begin to see the real romantic Armand too. He shows gentleness really beautifully in the way he holds her and lifts her and uses his whole body with his hugs. Christopher Saunders is powerful and determined as Armand’s father and he isn’t quite who he seems either.

Marguerite and Armand is a really beautiful ballet which brings across all the beauty, romance and sadness of the story.